(3 of 4)
I.R.A. Negotiates Negotiations Gerry Adams, leader of the Irish Republican Army's political wing, called for ''direct and unconditional dialogue'' on Northern Ireland, but Prime Ministers John Major of Britain and Albert Reynolds of Ireland said their offer to include the I.R.A. in bargaining sessions only if it renounces violence is nonnegotiable. Adams also called for the release of ''political prisoners'' -- hundreds of captured I.R.A. gunmen and bombers held in British prisons -- but British officials have ruled out any amnesty for them. I.R.A. guerrillas, meanwhile, disrupted London's commuter railway system with bomb threats and set off explosives in London, Belfast and Londonderry, injuring six people.
Yeltsin Reforms Reformism Russian President Boris Yeltsin, responding to the unexpectedly strong showing by Vladimir Zhirinovsky's ultra-nationalists in parliamentary elections, acknowledged that two years of proto-capitalism had created hardships and said his government would do more to help the poor and unemployed. However, Yeltsin also announced that First Deputy Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar, chief architect of the free-market reforms, would remain in office and that ''the course he is following will continue.'' Yeltsin replaced the Security Ministry, successor to the KGB, by a streamlined counterintelligence agency, denouncing it as ''the last bulwark of Soviet totalitarianism.''
Ukraine Defuses a Few Nukes The world's third largest nuclear power, Ukraine, announced it had removed the warheads from 17 of its SS-24 ballistic missiles inherited from the Soviet Union and aimed at North America. Despite the goodwill gesture, Ukraine officials are still negotiating with Russia and the U.S. over the final disposition of the country's 1,600-warhead arsenal.
Milosevic Retains Power Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, a chief architect of the Serbs' war of expansion in Bosnia, retained control of the government as his Socialist Party increased its representation from 101 to 123 seats in the 250-seat legislature. Whether the Socialists form a minority or a coalition government, President Milosevic will remain in control.
South Africa Onward, Upward In its last significant act as a white-dominated body, South Africa's Parliament approved a constitution granting equal rights -- including the right to vote -- to all citizens for the first time. The document will come into force as soon as it is signed by President F.W. de Klerk. A pair of last- minute efforts to include racialist provisions in the constitution -- one by right-wing white groups to create a separate ''white homeland'' and another by black parties to preserve the special powers of blacks in autonomous areas created by apartheid -- failed.
Castro Daughter Flees to U.S. Using a wig and a fake Spanish passport, Fidel Castro's illegitimate daughter slipped out of Cuba aboard a tourist flight to Spain. She then flew to Atlanta, where she was granted political asylum. Alina Fernandez Revuelta, 37, who has denounced her father as a ''tyrant,'' said she hopes her 16-year-old daughter will be allowed to join her in the U.S.
BUSINESS